Google, Meta and TikTok sue to block California social media law

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Google, Meta & TikTok sue California law

Highlights

Google, Meta, and TikTok file lawsuits seeking to block California's Assembly Bill 1709 restricting features for users under 16, citing First Amendment and Section 230 violations.
The law requires platforms to delete accounts of minors using psychologically exploitative features like personal recommendations and autoplay, escalating compliance and operational risks for tech firms.
California's law intensifies regulatory scrutiny following Meta's August agreement to pay up to $18 billion in settlements and restrict teen use as U.S. states and other countries expand child safety regulations.

Legal challenge to youth platform rules

As reported by Reuters, the lawsuits target California's Assembly Bill 1709, which bars online platforms from offering children under 16 what the law calls psychologically exploitative features that could encourage compulsive use. The measure cites functions such as personal recommendations and autoplay video delivery, and also requires the deletion of children's accounts that use those features.

In separate complaints filed on Wednesday, Google, Meta and TikTok argue that the law improperly forces them to follow the state's preferred method of presenting content to minors and replaces parental judgment with government direction. The companies say the measure violates the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment protections for free speech, as well as Section 230 of the federal Communications Decency Act, which broadly shields platforms from liability over user content.

Meta says in its complaint that the state cannot override its editorial decisions on how to curate and display billions of posts containing third-party speech. Google, which owns YouTube and operates under Alphabet, and TikTok, owned by China's ByteDance, make similar constitutional arguments.

Broader pressure on child safety policies

California Attorney General Rob Bonta's office, which enforces state laws and is the only defendant in the cases, does not immediately respond on Thursday to requests for comment. Governor Gavin Newsom signed the law on September 10 and says children's safety should be central to any debate over technology, adding that California will not stand by while unregulated technology puts children at risk.

Opposition to the law extends beyond the companies bringing the suits. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit digital rights group, calls the measure a massive privacy and free speech nightmare, reflecting wider concern that restrictions on children's online access could go too far.

California's law also arrives amid broader regulatory pressure on social media companies in the U.S. and abroad. Many U.S. states are pursuing rules on children's access to social platforms, while other countries have adopted similar restrictions, including Australia's ban on social media for children under 16. In August, Meta agrees to pay up to $18 billion and limit teenagers' use of Facebook and Instagram under agreements with nearly all U.S. states over alleged privacy and consumer protection violations.

Our earlier article on Chariot Claims’ $10 million Series A explained how the legal-tech startup is using AI to help law firms process mass arbitration and other high-volume consumer disputes tied to alleged privacy violations, hidden fees and hard-to-cancel subscriptions. It also noted that strong funding in legal tech is enabling more automation in case review and research as consumer-focused claims against digital services draw greater scrutiny.

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